My googlefu is inadequate, I have been unable to locate an image of the pins on his cap and lapels. Also, what are the vertical bars on the upper left sleeve?
Picture was likely taken in NJ or KY before he deployed to France. All records have been lost.
Is their a list of 82nd air borne during WW2? I've looked for my wife's grandfather several times but can't find anything publicly. But my Google fu is weak as well.
The 'X' on the unit crest is usually indicative of an Infantry unit and you mentioned NJ. In WWII, most units were National Guard called up "for the duration". So, I searched for WWII Infantry New Jersey and then scrolled through a bunch of stuff. The Coastal Artillery patch find was pure dumb luck.
Is their a list of 82nd air borne during WW2? I've looked for my wife's grandfather several times but can't find anything publicly. But my Google fu is weak as well.
I am reading a book, An Army At Dawn by Rick Atkinson, the first of his books in a trilogy about WW2; it's about Operation Torch and North Africa. I am astounded at how quickly they mobilized and shocked at how poorly the national guard troops were trained. In all of this I am reading on the side about the individual units and how they were organized or renamed. The size of the military during and right after WW2 was incomprehensible, but I love reading about their lineage and what happened to the units. Closer to home, the size of Ft. Bragg, Hoffman/Camp MacKall, Butner, Camp Lejeune, and the growth of all of those facilities, was just enormous.